2019-20 Australian region cyclone season (MoneyHurricane)
The 2019-20 Australian region cyclone season was a near-average period of tropical cyclone formation in the Southern Indian and Pacific Oceans, between 90°E and 160°E. During the season, which officially ran from November 1 to April 30, a total of 10 tropical cyclones formed, of which 4 were severe. The tenth and final tropical cyclone of the season, Gina, crossed over from the South Pacific, but still counts towards the season total. Although the season has official bounds, tropical cyclones can form at any time of year from July 1 to June 30, as demonstrated by the formation of Cyclone Esther in mid-October. The season featured high amounts of homegrown activity, particularly in the Northern and Northwestern Regions, while the usually active Western Region was much quieter due to unusually cool sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The first tropical cyclone named by Port Moresby since 2007, Cyclone Alu, was the first of two category 5 tropical cyclones, and was the most intense cyclone to be named in the Papuan area of responsibility on record. The season saw the formation of the deadliest and costliest tropical cyclone in Australia's history, Cyclone Imogen, which developed late in the season and left a trail of death and destruction in its wake. Imogen was also tied with Cyclone Orson of the 1989-90 season for the 2nd most intense tropical cyclone in the basin's history in 10-minute wind speeds. After Imogen, the basin rapidly quieted down and concluded with the dissipation of Cyclone Gina in early May. During the season, tropical cyclones were officially monitored by one of the five tropical cyclone warning centres (TCWCs) that operate in this region. Three of the five centres are operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane, while the other two are operated by the National Weather Service of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby and the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics in Jakarta. Seasonal forecasts Prior to the official start of the season on 1 November, the Bureau of Meteorology issues their annual seasonal outlook for the basin and its subregions. The 2019-20 outlook, released on 10 October, expected an above average season due to the expected development of a La Niña in the tropical Pacific ocean, which ultimately failed to materialize. However, the Western region, which was experiencing anomalously low sea surface temperatures and widespread hostile wind shear, had a 61% chance to see below average activity. All other regions, and the basin as a whole, were likely to feature average to above average activity. The North-Western subregion, from 105°E to 130°E, was given a a 77% chance of seeing greater than average activity. The Northern region, composed mainly of the Gulf of Carpentaria, was expected to see an average season with 3 tropical cyclones forming or passing through it. The Eastern region, from 142.5°E to 160°E, had a high likelihood of seeing above average activity, at 62%. The basin as a whole was expected to see average or slightly above-average activity. The North-Western, Northern, and Eastern regions all ended up having average activity as the La Niña never properly developed. However, the Western region was correctly predicted and saw much below average activity, with only 3 tropical cyclones against a seasonal average of 7. The lack of activity in the Western Region significantly brought down basin-totals, and the 2019-20 season was deemed an average season at its conclusion in May. Seasonal summary ImageSize = width:800 height:210 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/10/2018 till:01/06/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/10/2018 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TL value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Low_=_<63_km/h_(<39_mph) id:C1 value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Category_1_=_63-88_km/h_(39-55_mph) id:C2 value:rgb(0.80,1,1) legend:Category_2_=_89-117_km/h_(55-73_mph) id:C3 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_3_=_118-159-km/h_(73-99_mph) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_4_=_160-199_km/h_(99-124_mph) id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_=_≥200_km/h_(≥124_mph) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:17/10/2018 till:24/10/2018 color:C2 text:"Esther" from:02/11/2018 till:04/11/2018 color:TL text:"02U" from:13/11/2018 till:18/11/2018 color:TL text:"03U" from:22/12/2018 till:25/12/2018 color:TL text:"04U" from:23/12/2018 till:24/12/2018 color:TL text:"05U" from:29/12/2018 till:06/01/2019 color:C4 text:"Ferdinand" from:10/01/2019 till:17/01/2019 color:C4 text:"Seroja" from:01/02/2019 till:07/02/2019 color:C2 text:"Gretel" barset:break from:05/02/2019 till:10/02/2019 color:TL text:"09U" from:14/02/2019 till:16/02/2019 color:C2 text:"Harold" from:20/02/2019 till:05/03/2019 color:C5 text:"Alu" from:03/03/2019 till:19/03/2019 color:C2 text:"Teratai" from:04/03/2019 till:08/03/2019 color:TL text:"13U" from:17/03/2019 till:18/03/2019 color:TL text:"14U" from:21/03/2019 till:23/03/2019 color:TL barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:26/03/2019 till:31/03/2019 color:TL barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:02/04/2019 till:04/04/2019 color:TL barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:07/04/2019 till:09/04/2019 color:TL text:"15U" from:25/03/2019 till:12/04/2019 color:C5 text:"Imogen" barset:break from:07/04/2019 till:12/04/2019 color:C1 text:"Joshua" from:28/04/2019 till:01/05/2019 color:TL text:"18U" from:05/05/2019 till:07/05/2019 color:C1 text:"Gina" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/10/2018 till:01/11/2018 text:October from:01/11/2018 till:01/12/2018 text:November from:01/12/2018 till:01/01/2019 text:December from:01/01/2019 till:01/02/2019 text:January from:01/02/2019 till:01/03/2019 text:February from:01/03/2019 till:01/04/2019 text:March from:01/04/2019 till:01/05/2019 text:April from:01/05/2019 till:01/06/2019 text:May TextData = pos:(569,23) text:"(For further details, please see" pos:(713,23) text:" scales)" The season began about 15 days before the official start date with the early formation of Tropical Low 01U on 17 October. The low gradually strengthened and organized and, upon reaching category 1 tropical cyclone status, was named Esther. Approaching land, the storm made a cyclonic loop just offshore and peaked as a high end category 2, before making landfall in a rural region of Western Australia on 22 October. Esther traveled inland, gradually weakening and dissipating on 24 October. After Esther, the basin remained quiet until the official beginning of the season, and on 2 November, Tropical Low 02U developed in the extreme southern area of the Timor Sea, just 50 miles of the Australian coastline. The low made landfall that same day just west of the Western Australia-Northern Territory state line. It moved slowly into inland Australia and degenerated into a remnant low on 4 November. The next tropical low of the season developed in the middle of the month, on 13 November. Despite moving very slowly over relatively warm SSTs, Tropical Low 03U failed to gain much strength and was never given a name over its five day lifespan. The low made landfall early 15 November in northwestern Queensland, near the town of Bowen. 03U remained fairly organized as it moved inland, and traveled over arid inland Australia for three days before finally degenerating into a remnant low in a very rural region of northwestern South Australia on 18 November. Following 03U's dissipation, a long period of inactivity followed and only concluded over a month later on 22 December, with the formation of Tropical Low 04U just off the coast of Queensland, close to the location of 03U's landfall. The low moved slowly, paralleling the coastline, and strengthening little. 04U peaked just under category 1 cyclone status on 24 December, before rapidly becoming post-tropical due to colder SSTs the following morning, roughly 200 miles northeast of Brisbane. The final low in a string of unnamed tropical systems developed on 23 December, and was designated Tropical Low 05U. The extremely disorganized area of low pressure remained very weak throughout its 24-hour life, and upon making landfall in Groote Eylandt on 24 December, the system rapidly disintegrated and completely dissipated by 26 December over the Northern Territory. The last tropical cyclone of the year, Cyclone Ferdinand, developed from a tropical low on 30 December. Initially moving northeast, the cyclone turned to the west as it quickly strengthened over the warm waters of the Coral Sea. Rapid intensification ensued on 1 January as the storm approached the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland. It soon made three landfalls in rapid succession on 2 January at peak intensity as a high end category 4 cyclone, just barely missing the city center of Cairns as it passed just miles to the north. After landfall, the storm weakened over the dry, arid terrain of interior Queensland before reemerging into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Although ample SSTs of 31°C were present for explosive strengthening, Ferdinand struggled and only briefly regained some of its lost intensity before beginning to quickly degrade due to land interaction. The cyclone made its final landfall on 5 January as a weak category 1 cyclone in a remote area of the Northern Territory. Weakening gradually, Ferdinand degenerated into a remnant low on 6 January. The first cyclone to officially form in 2020 in the basin developed nine days into the year, with the formation of Tropical Low 07U just off the coast of the Indonesian island of Java. As it strengthened, the storm turned to the south, and later, the east and began moving away from the island nation. The low was upgraded to a category 1 cyclone on 10 January and was given the name Seroja by TCWC Jakarta. Seroja exited Jakarta's area of responsibility on 12 January and entered TCWC Perth's region of the basin. Slow strengthening continued until 13 January, when rapid intensification ensued as wind shear finally relaxed over the cyclone. A well defined eye quickly appeared and Seroja peaked just under category 5 cyclone strength on 14 January, well off the coast of Western Australia. The storm weakened just as quickly as it had strengthened, and by 16 January it had weakened back down to a category 1 cyclone. Seroja transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone shortly after, on 17 January. Seroja was the only tropical system during the month of January. After two consecutive powerful cyclones, Ferdinand and Seroja, the basin quieted down for almost two weeks. A low that had been meandering over the Cape York Peninsula finally broke the streak of inactivity when it was designated as Tropical Low 08U on 1 February. Moving very slowly over the Gulf of Carpentaria, 08U eventually strengthened and was named Tropical Cyclone Gretel on 2 February by TCWC Darwin. Gretel made a jagged cyclonic loop before turning almost due south towards northwestern Queensland. The storm avoided all land in the Northern Territory, turning just in time before landfall on multiple occasions. Gretel gradually strengthened throughout it's time in the Gulf of Carpentaria, peaking as a category 2 cyclone at second landfall on 5 February in rural Queensland, north of the town of Karumba. Additionally, the cyclone made its first and original landfall on Mornington Island not long before reaching peak intensity. After hitting the coast, Gretel gradually weakened over the flat terrain of interior Australia, before becoming a remnant low on 7 February, almost 600 miles due south of its precursor's origin point. Systems Tropical Cyclone Esther Tropical Low 02U Tropical Low 03U Tropical Low 04U Tropical Low 05U Severe Tropical Cyclone Ferdinand Severe Tropical Cyclone Seroja Tropical Cyclone Gretel Tropical Low 09U Tropical Cyclone Harold Severe Tropical Cyclone Alu Tropical Cyclone Teratai Tropical Low 13U Tropical Low 14U Tropical Low 15U Severe Tropical Cyclone Imogen Tropical Cyclone Joshua Tropical Low 18U Tropical Cyclone Gina Storm names Bureau of Meteorology Since the start of the 2008–09 season, there has only been one list from which the Bureau of Meteorology has assigned names to tropical cyclones, despite still operating three separate tropical cyclone warning centres (TCWCs) in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane. These warning centres monitor all tropical cyclones that form within the Australian region, including any within the areas of responsibility of TCWC Jakarta or TCWC Port Moresby. The next 12 names on the naming list are listed below: TCWC Jakarta The tropical cyclone warning centre in Jakarta monitors tropical cyclones from the Equator to 11°S and between the longitudes 90°E and 145°E. Should a tropical depression reach tropical cyclone strength within TCWC Jakarta's area of responsibility, it will be assigned the next name from the following list: TCWC Port Moresby Tropical cyclones that develop between the Equator and 11°S, between 151°E and 160°E, are assigned names by the tropical cyclone warning centre in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Tropical cyclone formation in this area is rare, with no cyclones being named in it since 2007 prior to the formation of Alu in mid-February. As names are assigned in a random order the whole list is shown below: Season effects This is a table of all the storms that have formed in the 2019-20 Australian region cyclone season. It includes their duration, names, landfall(s), denoted in parentheses, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in 2020 AUD and 2020 USD. Category:Australian region cyclone seasons Category:Active hurricane seasons Category:Money Hurricane